UGA Bus and Passenger Car Collide on Campus....Or Not

At 3 o’clock on Wednesday near the , a bus collided with a car, leaving two dead and others injured. More or less.

The accident was staged by the Management Seminar for College News Editors (MSCNE) for its participants. The students in the seminar attend colleges in over 20 states, coming from as far as The University of Alaska at Anchorage.

Among the participants was Polina Marinova, Editor-in-Chief of UGA’s The Red and Black. Marinova’s role was to report the event and speak to victims and witnesses at the scene.

“At first, I thought no one would really take the event seriously because they knew it was simulated,” said Marinova of the simulation. “However, once it was announced, everyone focused and really got into their designated roles.”

The “accident” occurred on Sanford Drive adjacent to the Journalism Building. It involved a UGA bus that had collided with a Ford Taurus reportedly heading the wrong direction on the one-way entrance to the street.

“When I got out to the scene of the bus crash, I was treating it as a real-life incident,” said Marinova. “It was definitely tough because the exercise makes you realize you can't trust everyone you talk to -- and you can't print anything until you have the claims confirmed.”

Several UGA police officers participated. An ambulance arrived as if to take the victims to the hospital. The pretend victims were members of UGA’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and two blow-up dolls that served as dead bodies. One of the CERT members was in a stretcher with an apparent gash on his leg. Another was lying injured on the sidewalk while her friend yelled for assistance.

“She’s dying! She’s dying!,” yelled one of the pretend victims. “I can’t believe you’re just sitting over there while she’s dying!”

Yellow crime scene tape boxed off the scene of the accident, while MSCNE participants eagerly sought out interviews with police officers, victims, and potential witnesses. Shortly afterwards, UGA Police Captain Justin Gregory held a mock press conference. Surrounded by the students, he made a brief opening statement before answering questions.

The Director of MSCNE is Cecil Bentley, who works at UGA as Director of Grady College External Relations.

“We tell the students, ‘Don’t do something that you’re already good at,’” said Bentley of the simulation. “Do something that you feel you need some hands-on training in.”

This is the 16th year of MSCNE, and the fourth year that the event has included some sort of simulated news event. Students posted their stories on one of eight websites set up for the seminar.